The present invention relates to a refrigerated cabinet for storing beverage containers and other food items, and more particularly, to a cabinet for housing a plurality of readily interchangeable and independent modular elements which collectively define a refrigeration cabinet having multiple uses.
Beverage containers are displayed and sold in a variety of different types of refrigerated self-serve display cabinets and coin-operated vending machines. The sales environment in which the machine will be used most times determines the necessary attributes of a particular refrigerated cabinet. For example, a glass door merchandiser may be chosen to sell items inside a business, but would not be practical for vending items outside the business where a closed coin-operated merchandiser would be a better choice.
However, conventional refrigerated cabinets are not easily convertible from one type of merchandiser to another. For example, if a vendor purchases a closed vending machine but later discovers the need for a display type refrigerated cabinet, there is presently no way of economically and conveniently converting that machine. This is due in part to differences in the refrigeration systems provided by the two diverse types of vendors. This inability to convert merchandisers prohibits vendors from utilizing more effective methods for selling a product. Further, a vendor's purchase of a plurality of different types of cabinets causes expense and inventory problems.